Late civic leader Kelly honored

Staff report

Published 2:15 pm, Monday, May 1, 2017

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ALTON —The late Isaac H. Kelly, local civic leader will finally receive his grand honors at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, May 7, in a dedication ceremony that will install a headstone on his previously unmarked grave.

Isaac H. Kelly, who was born a slave on the plantation of Thomas Cooper in Macon, Georgia, was the first president of the Elijah P. Lovejoy Association. He was trained to be an iron molder, but was freed by Cooper’s eldest son in 1840 at the age of 15, and was sent to Alton, in care of the Rev. Adiel Sherwood, then President of Shurtleff College.

Once in Alton, Kelly opened the first of two barbershops in Alton that he operated for more than 64 years. He was very active in the Alton community, serving as a deacon at Union Baptist Church for 40 years, a sub-conductor on The North Star Line of the Underground Railroad and was the first Trustee and President of the Elijah P. Lovejoy Association. He also served the state as “Door Keeper” for the Illinois Legislature in Springfield, Illinois.

Most Worshipful Brother Kelly is best known in masonic circles as one of the three founding fathers of Prince Hall Free and Accepted Masons in the state of Illinois. Kelly served as the first and the last Worshipful Master of G.T. Watson Lodge No. 2 in Alton. The first elected Grand Treasurer of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge State of Illinois and Jurisdiction, he was also elected the second Grand Master.